For months now, every time a new Levenger catalog has come, I've leafed through the pages and drooled as usual over the lovely tools I can't afford. One thing in particular caught my eyes more than all the others, though, the Plumpster pen. The swirls of blue and caramel remind me of pictures taken of the Earth from high altitude, all seas and desert sands swirling and mingling. Time after time, I've looked at it, longed for it, and sighed. After winning third place in our local poetry contest and being named STAR teacher, I decided to treat myself to something nifty, so I added to my debt and got one.
It's gorgeous. Sometimes I just take it out of my purse and hold it in my hand just to look at it. The pictures really don't do the resin of the barrel justice. Even though the nib is a little wider than I like (it's marked fine, but it's really not), it's beautifully responsive. I got ink called Skies of Blue to run in it to match the colors, and I love the total effect. Sometimes, happiness is a new pen, I guess.
Congratulations on winning the contest AGAIN! This is not your first win, right? and the teaching award too...see, people notice your efforts and you do make a difference.
ReplyDeleteNow, WHAT are you writing with that beautiful pen? I haven't held a fountain pen in years, decades even. How do they fill now? I remember my dad's had kind of a little pump/lever thing on the side and used a bottle of blue-black ink which I was NOT to play with.
It is truly beautiful. And where's the link to the poem?
This was only a third place finish, so I'm honored to have won anything, but I'm a little disappointed. I'm wondering what that means for me as a writer. Previously, I won the competition two years back-to-back, but last year, I didn't place at all, so maybe I'm working my way back up. I've been in a real funk about it, sort of mixed up about whether to be glad I won anything or worried that I can't seem to produce quality anymore. Type-A angst, you know.
ReplyDeleteI'm writing everything with this pen. I do attendance with it. It's great. I look for things to write with it: grocery lists, phone messages, addresses on envelopes. It makes even the dullest paperwork happy. All tools should be that way.
It has a reservoir (piston-type) to fill from a bottle, and I like bottled ink, but since I carry it around from place to place so much, I have gone to cartridges. They run out a lot faster, but it's much less mess. Every time I fill from the bottle, I get ink all over my hands, no matter how careful I am about it. I have one pen that I always fill from a bottle, but I just use it at home. It runs purple ink, also from Levenger, and I only use it once in a great while.
As for a link to the poem, that will be a while. I'll work along on it.
Now you've made me want one too. I'll let you know if I am thanking you for that. I remember the few times I snuck my dad's and, as you said, got ink everywhere. Hard to hide the *crumbs* of that accident.
ReplyDeleteBut, I do love to make lists so why not make a pretty list?
I understand the writing angst. I have a small project in the works, which I can't name until it fruits- as I do believe in jinxes! I've received some very good feedback so far from several involved with one dissenter who I honestly think was simply being competitive rather than helpful, nevertheless, I tend to concentrate on those comments rather than the good ones. Ultimately, I have to go with what I like and feel and if it is odd, well, so be it. I know how vague that all sounds. Maybe I'll put a link up too - some day!
All Levenger's pens are gorgeous. Their True Writer series of pens are very affordable and the colors are unbelieveable. I want the one called Kyoto something fierce, but that's a treat for another day.
ReplyDeleteI'm going through a fountain pen revival right now. I dug out two I've had for years and resurrected them. I have four of them now, and it's neat to have some variety to choose from.
Go get one to make pretty lists with. Let me know which one you pick!
If/when you put up the link to your stuff, let me know. I'd love to read what you've got. I know all about what you mean about listening to the bad voices more than the good ones. I wish it were easier to hear the good ones!